Always Faithful
by bionsena
Summary: When the Princess of Caerleon flees from her impending arranged nuptials she finds herself in Camelot where she intends to start again with a new life and no title until a mysterious friend from the past reappears in her life. Co-written with Spica Celeste. We do not own Merlin:(
1. Chapter 1

_The red headed girl laughed as her wooden sword struck another 'killing' blow against her frustrated companion. _

"_Be careful!" the little girl's father called. She rolled her eyes when he looked away and stuck her tongue out at the boy opposite her._

"_That's four times in a row I've won now," she crowed. The brown haired boy merely shrugged and twinkled his hazel eyes at her._

"_I'm only letting you win because you're a girl." She shoved him in outrage and he fell sprawling into the dirt._

"_What was that for?" he spluttered._

"_Now it's five to me," then she ran before he could give chase._

...

Princess Analise of Caerleon smiled at the memory and wondered what had become of her childhood friend. He'd left many years before not long after she'd passed her sixteenth birthday. She sighed and paused for a moment wishing she was back in those simpler times. Still old acquaintances seemed trivial now as she placed the gilded tiara atop her head and watched herself in the mirror for a moment before heading to her doom.

Many hours later sat next to her mother the long widowed queen, she longed more than ever to be outside playing games.

"The fact remains," her mother's advisors stressed for the hundredth time, recalling Ana's attention to the meeting. "that Prince Nathaniel is no longer with us and in the absence of a male heir it falls to the Princess to marry a suitable candidate for the throne."

"I understand that but at the present moment I am more concerned with avenging my son's death than trawling the kingdoms for a potential consort to my daughter."

_Not like I have any say in this_ Ana thought in irritation.

"But my Lady, exacting revenge against Camelot will only bring more bloodshed, and Caerleon cannot afford to lose you when you have no definite successor."

_And so it continues._

Eventually they got out 'the list.' A selection of potential candidates for her to marry. The youngest sons of Caerleon's political allies. She groaned internally as the names were read out. Drunken louts, notorious womanisers and addicted gamblers were all that sprang to mind as she drank in the long list of princes, earls and dukes.

After much deliberation, without so much as asking for her consent, they decided the most appropriate consort with which to arrange a marriage would be Sir Darrin of Amata. Even his name filled her with dread. It would be him. Darrin was the most promiscuous and uncivilised of men. It would be a loveless, lifeless marriage, only benefiting the kingdom if they were to go to war.

_Why do I have to get married at all? _Her mother Queen Annis ruled perfectly well without a husband. It just wasn't fair.

Ana held the tears at bay until she got back to her rooms. She dismissed her maidservant, jealously thinking how easy the girl had it. She could marry who she pleased and do what she wished, without the weight of a Princess' burden.

As she lay in bed that night, she remembered trying to count the stars with that boy she once knew. Her brother had always been off with his tutors and didn't have the time to spend with her. She had felt so lucky when a boy the same age had come to the castle with his father, who was assigned to protect her.

She remembered him telling her how he would run away when he was old enough and see as many different places as he could. They used to joke about her coming with him but it wasn't possible, she had too much responsibility even then, when her brother was alive to inherit the kingdom.

Her brother, Nathaniel, he'd been killed almost six months ago and the grief was still as fresh as though it were yesterday. She missed him so much, as much as she missed that boy from her dreams. If only he hadn't challenged the young prince of Camelot to a fight to the death.

If only she could run away like she used to pretend, everything would be so much simpler.

_Well why can't I? _She realised sitting up suddenly. The idea circled making her almost dizzy. She could do anything, be anyone, if only she were somewhere else. Somewhere where none would come looking.

Camelot.


	2. Chapter 2

Gwaine smiled at two girls and his patrol partner sighed in annoyance.

"Can't you think of anything else?" Leon grumbled.

"Oh loosen up Leon, have some fun."

The knights finished up their patrol before heading back to the castle. Things were as uneventful as usual and Gwaine was almost disappointed. Morgana hadn't been sighted in quite a while and it made everyone nervous to think of what she might be planning.

He ran into Merlin on the way back to his rooms and he grinned at Arthur's long-suffering servant. Merlin smiled back, cheerful as ever.

"What's he got you doing now?" the knight asked his friend.

"Cleaning out his stables, polishing his armour...just an average evening."

They shared a laugh and walked on. Gwaine wondered sometimes how it was Merlin always seemed to be right in the thick of things and come out unscathed every time. He was sure there was more to him than met the eye. He shook his head ruefully and his mind wandered to other things.

Briefly he thought of his childhood and wondered about the people he'd left behind. A servant girl with long red hair passed him in the corridor and he did a brief double take before dismissing it as coincidence. He'd just been thinking about her that was all.

...

She ducked her head as she spotted him as he swept by in the corridor. It couldn't be Gwaine could it, the boy she remembered so vividly from childhood.

_Get a grip Ana _she told herself but couldn't resist looking behind her at his retreating back in wonder. What were the chances of her coming to the same place that he was at the same time?

Her escape hadn't been easy; she had waited until everyone was in bed one night and slowly crept through the castle avoiding what seemed like hundreds of guards by mere seconds several times. By the time she got to the stables she was a nervous wreck. Slowly she tacked up a servant's horse hoping he wouldn't get in trouble because of her actions, and when she finally got into the saddle she felt a rush of adrenaline.

She only looked back once before digging her heels into the mares flank and riding away as fast as she could. She journeyed day and night and only stopped to rest once she was a safe distance away from Carleon. Upon arriving in the kingdom that she was supposed to despise, she instead felt a great sense of relief.

At first she was at a loss as to what to do and if it hadn't been for Gwen she would probably have starved. The kind servant that tended to the ailing King Uther helped her to get a job as a maid and let her stay in her house until she found somewhere of her own. Ana had noticed peculiar looks between Gwen and the prince and had once asked her new friend about it. The answer was more confusing than the question so she decided to just leave it be.

It made her heart ache to see two people in love but cut off from each other by status and power. It reminded her of her own problem. What was wrong with marrying for no other reason than love?

This train of thought bought her back to the present and she wondered how she felt about Gwaine? She'd loved him once and if this knight turned out to be him, would she succumb to those feelings once again?

**A/N Yeah we know it's a short chapter but at least we've updated! Anyway me and Spica Celeste really hope you like our story and we hope the OC's aren't too dreadful;)**


	3. Chapter 3

It was only a few days later that she saw the look- alike knight again. She walked past the training grounds at midday on a Friday, pausing when she saw him. He was in the middle of a sword fight with the future king. It wasn't the grace of his movement that stopped her breathing, it was the familiarity.

It _was_ Gwaine, there was no doubt. They'd learned those moves at the same time, fought together for countless hours there was no way she couldn't recognise the style. Arthur's sword clattered to the ground and at the same moment Gwaine's eyes met hers. He winked, not in recognition, she was almost relieved to see, but in a lewd flirtatious way that was so typical of Gwaine.

Ana felt the heat rise to her face in seconds and dropped eye contact, rapidly turning to go back into the castle. What was she going to do now? He would recognise her eventually.

...

Confused at the maid's rapid retreat, Gwaine turned to a disgruntled looking Arthur.

"Is she new or something?" he asked.

"Why do you care?" the prince said looking bewildered.

Gwaine shrugged "I don't, she just looked familiar..." he let his voice trail off and the knights resumed training.

Later that day Gwaine found his thoughts returning to the red haired girl for the hundredth time. There was something about her that stirred something in his memory. He couldn't place it but he knew he'd seen her before. He desperately wanted to see her again just to see if she could explain it to him.

So he went looking.

...

Ana had spent most of her day in the servant's passageways in an attempt to avoid her old friend. As silly as it was she was still hoping to get away with not being recognised. But at the same time she felt the walls closing in on her and she knew she couldn't escape her heritage

Her only hope was to find him first and ask him not to say anything. To her surprise he was the one who found her first, sort of. She'd just rounded the corner when they literally collided.

"Ouch" said that all too familiar voice "are you all right?"

"I'm fine" she said meekly, refusing to make eye contact.

"Are you sure" he sounded concerned, probably alarmed that she wouldn't look up.

She nodded but to her surprise he lifted her chin so that she was looking directly into hazel eyes that she had once been in love with. His harp intake of breath told her that he knew who she was now.

"Princess Analise?"

**A/N Haha how cruel are we? Sorry for the cliff-hanger guys but what can you do? We promise to update again soon.**


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